Guilt's A Funny Thing
by darth spots and darth stripes
Summary: James Potter, aged fourteen is reflecting. There's a funny pit in his stomach and he doesn't know why. What he does know is that it's annoying him, and guilt's a funny thing.[oneshot]


_Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Goddamn._

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"**Guilt's A Funny Thing****"**

James Potter had never been one for reflection – after all, he was a fourteen year old boy, and fourteen year old boys were not particularly recognisable by their depth.

Indeed, many considered James Potter to be rather shallow – an assumption that was only partially true. He was a tad self-obsessed, but he did have a set of morals, admirable amongst many. Yes, he did think about things, but classifying him as a thoughtful person would be a mistake.

Today James Potter was reflecting. The idea to do so was brought up by Lily Evans – a girl whom he had teased from the first moment he'd laid eyes upon her.

He didn't know exactly why he'd listened to her angry suggestion, but he had and was now following through with it.

Something was bothering James. It was an odd, empty sensation in his stomach. Not in the sense that he was hungry, or hadn't eaten – he was actually quite full – but it was a strange feeling, that he could not recall ever experiencing before.

It was distracting him from his thinking, which in itself had been rather strange.

Oddly enough, the only thing he'd really been able to think about was Lily Evans.

He wasn't sure why he teased her – certainly it was not for the usual reasons that people are teased for. She wasn't ugly, stupid, fat, thin, strange looking or unconfident.

In fact, she was just your average fourteen year old girl. Well, perhaps she had a temper, but she was close enough to average.

So why exactly _did _he tease her?

The odd sensation in his stomach was really starting to piss him off. It was foreign to him – and James Potter did not like foreign things one bit.

James had pulled – with the help of his closest friends – various pranks on Lily.

Most of the time this landed him in a heated argument with the fiery red-head, and sometimes even a small duel (though that was rather rare, Lily generally adhered to the schools rule that stated duelling was not allowed).

Most of the time they would both part extremely infuriated by the other, though James always had his mates to laugh it off with.

James vaguely wondered if Lily had anyone to laugh it off with.

The pit in his stomach seemed, if it were possible, to deepen. James stretched his arms out over his head, then froze.

He couldn't. Could he?

_James Potter_ was feeling _guilty._

Perhaps he was slightly too mean to Evans.

He kicked himself mentally. How could he be so cruel? And to a girl who'd done nothing to him, as well?

James paused in thought – the pit in his stomach was _still_ there. James ignored it to the best of his abilities, and continued his reflection.

He closed his eyes…

A pair of vivid emerald green ones looked back at him.

As if he'd received an electric shock, James' eyes shot open.

Had he just?

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no, _no._

He'd just seen _Lily's _eyes.

His heart was beating faster; his breathing was heavier; the pit in his stomach was more apparent than ever.

James gulped.

And not because he was guilty, _oh_ no.

It was because James had just realised he liked Lily Evans, the one girl he could not like.

He shook his head vigorously, as if that would somehow reverse the feeling.

James Potter didn't know much, but he decided on one thing then and there: _He loved Lily Evans, and it would probably be the death of him._

What was he going to do?

If it were any other girl in the world, he'd just charm her up and date her, but this was Lily Evans, and quite frankly he valued his manhood.

What could he do?

He exhaled deeply.

Why did he have to like her?

After some thought, James had a plan of action. He would just flirt a little, stop teasing her and show her that he liked her. Yes, that was what he would do.

He was James Potter. He could get any girl if he put his heart to it.

As he closed his eyes and prepared to sleep, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a long journey ahead of him.

He sighed and rolled over, resolving to never again reflect and firmly deciding that guilt was – in a dry, ironic sense – a funny thing.

_**A/N: So that's my latest OneShot. Hoorah! What do you think? Any comments? Suggestions? Mistakes? Feel free to let me know – click the little purples button that says "Go" on the bottom left of your screen. Even if you don't have anything to say – I'm completely open to pointlessness. **_**Really, **_**I am. **_

_**100 Love, **_

_**Michelle**_

_**P.S. Hope you liked it! **_


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